Quite excellent. A wide, very long beach filled with deep sand. There is some random trash. Lots of shade trees between the resort areas and the beach.

Deep sand, and sandy bottom under the water. Great resorts. Shady trees. Great surfing. Easy bodyboarding during small waves. Usually calm, swimmable water great for kids. Facing west so, a good spot for sunsets.

Two main attractions. 1.) Sirinat National Park can be found at the southern-most edge, just past the Phuket International Airport. 2.) Splash Jungle Water park is about 10 minutes away – a huge park with many rides and slides for kids to enjoy all day. Though not so close, Kathu Waterfall is another fun attraction you might visit. It is around 30 minutes by vehicle. There are also some amazing resorts at Mai Khao. Check out some places you might choose to stay in our section at the bottom of this page.

Beach running; riding a bike on the beach; swimming; paddle-boarding (some resorts have them); and even surfing when the swells start coming between April and October. When the waves are small you can try a longboard, or a bodyboard if you have fins – they help a lot.

Though there is surf sometimes, most of the time at this beach there is just a weak shore-break that is great for kids playing in the water. When waves do pick up, Mai Khao gets choppy and irregular waves that are not rideable for more than a few seconds. No glassy long rides here! If you’re here and dying for surf, and the rest of the west side is cranking with 2+ meter (6.5 ft.) waves, you can try heading to the Sirinat National Park where this a reef and sandbar that sometimes holds good waves. If you need to rent a board or would like a surfing class, head to Saltwater Dreaming Surf Shop on Cherng Thale Beach.

High fines possible.

Large waves means strong undertow currents. Be very careful during rough surf.